Man asks to be arrested over child porn

MAHOMET — A Streator man who told a Champaign County sheriff's deputy Wednesday night that he needed to go to jail for his own protection was accommodated.

Champaign County sheriff's Lt. Ed Ogle said about 7:50 p.m., METCAD received a call from a man saying that he was being followed and that he needed to be taken into protective custody.

Ogle said deputies looked for the caller in the area of Prairieview Road in Mahomet but couldn't find him. About 8:15 p.m., Ogle said Sgt. Curt Apperson was leaving the scene of a traffic accident about six miles east of Mahomet when he saw a semitrailer truck approaching him at an intersection, honking and appearing as if it were going to hit his squad car.

Apperson pulled the driver over and the man told him, "You need to take me to jail."

When Apperson asked why, the man responded that he had child pornography.

Ogle said Patrick Paul Jones Freeman, 41, went on to tell Apperson that people were after him for having pictures of children and that he needed to be placed in protective custody. Upon further inquiry, Freeman showed Apperson pictures he had on a PlayStation device that were of children in sexually explicit poses.

Apperson then arrested Freeman for possession of child pornography.

"He was honking his horn and flashing his lights. He really wanted to go to jail," said Ogle. "We gave him a place to stay."

The states's attorney's office filed a Class 3 felony charge of possession of child pornography against Freeman on Thursday. Penalties upon conviction range from probation to two to five years in prison.